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29th Mar 2022

Brit with world’s smallest car avoids soaring fuel prices as his vehicle costs just £7 to fill up

Kieran Galpin

His car is pretty much the same height as Danny DeVito

One Brit has found a genius way to alleviate the pressure of fuel hikes, choosing instead to drive the world’s smallest car – which he fills up for just £7.

As just about everything increases in price, Alex Orchin from Wivelsfield, Sussex, is paying under £10 to fill up his blue Peel P50.

Measuring just 134cm long – pretty much the same height as Danny DeVito – the car sports a five-litre petrol tank.

The one-seater vehicle is unable to fit much inside, given that Orchin himself is required to have one leg on either side of the wheel. “I can fit a shopping bag down the left of the car by the handbrake, but nothing else,” he explained.

Via SWNS

Orchin, who himself stands at 5’11, is a passionate collector of motors and was inspired whilst watching Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear.

“I have always had an interest in old, vintage and unusual cars since I was a kid,” Orchin said. “No one in my family was into it – it was a bit of a random obsession!”

He continued: “I used to be a chauffer for vintage cars and have had a 1914 Model T and a 1968 Morris Minor too.

Via SWNS

“I got fixated on this idea of having a P50 just because it was so tiny but when I saw an original was £100,000 it kind of killed it off.”

He first bought his P50 “four years ago” from the Isle of Man after it was built in 2017. The cars were first created in the 1960s and have since been named the smallest production car ever built by Guinness World Records.

“The car always gets attention – it is quite staggering because to me it’s just a tiny car,” he continued. “It’s much smaller than you think it is – everyone says that when they see the car in person.

“I can fit a shopping bag down the left of the car by the handbrake, but nothing else”.

Last year, Orchin drove his adorable vehicle around the whole of the UK, which took longer than usual as his car only reaches 23mph. Orchin set off on his 1488 mile journey from John O’Groats on November 13 and later arrived at his final destination in Land’s End on December 4.

He just made his three-week goal and raised an impressive £11,000 for Children in Need.

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